More than 70% of parents in China say they are teaching their children English earlier than age 5, according to a recent survey. Respondents said they are seeking to give their children educational advantages and believe that children learn best when introduced to languages at an early age.

Teachers-in-training in England will learn about supporting students with autism as part of Initial Teacher Training. Data show every teacher will teach at least one student with autism during their career.

The UN announced the $3.8 billion Education Cannot Wait programme, to help children in conflict zones, at the World Humanitarian Summit. The initiative is designed to support local nongovernmental organisations and is expected to reach 75 million children by 2030.

A recent decision by the Ministry of Education in Canada to cut a $225,000 grant used to fund 80 language schools is drawing criticism. A petition is circulating to urge officials to reinstate the grant, which had been provided for 25 years. The ministry says it cut the grant for economic reasons.

Science, technology, engineering and math education can help improve living conditions and create jobs in West Africa, says Sidy Ndao, a Senegalese-born engineering professor who teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He organized the recent Pan-African Robotics Competition to help expand STEM learning opportunities.

Malta will continue to support bilingual education -- giving English the same priority as Maltese-language instruction, according to a recent government statement. The declaration follows the release of the Cambridge English benchmarking report, which made several recommendations to improve English-language instruction and suggested English would be treated more as a foreign language.

The ECIS safeguarding certificate sets the benchmark for safeguarding training in international schools. Our four-part programme provides the principles -- the foundations -- for strong child protection policies and practices, complemented by assessments that require successful application of that knowledge. The programme is offered fully online, assessments are required after each section, and a Certificate of Completion is issued to each successful participant. Visit our website for more information.

ECIS November Conference 16-19 November -- Copenhagen, Denmark

The theme for this year's conference is Cultivating Curiosity, not just from the viewpoint of inquiry, as a catalyst for learning, but also in trying to understand how we can nurture it within existing systems, or shift our systems to allow for curiosity and passion to grow and transform children. We look forward to receiving your proposals via our conference pages. The deadline is 10 June.

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.

Vern Law, baseball player

About ECIS

Founded in 1965, ECIS is a global membership organisation that provides professional development opportunities and consultancy services to its members who are comprised of international schools, individuals and educational organisations.